Gender Equality and
Justice in Islam

by

Riffat Hassan, Ph.D.

[Dr. Riffat Hassan
is a member of the Islamic Research Foundation International and is an award
winning scholar, an inimitable voice for moderate Islam & interreligous
dialogue and Professor for Religious Studies and Humanities at the University of
Louisville, Louisville, KY. In February 1999, she founded The
International Network for the Rights of Female Victims of Violence in Pakistan (INRFVVP),
a non-profit organization with a worldwide membership, which has played a
noteworthy role in highlighting the issue of violence against girls and women,
particularly with reference to “crimes of honor” (website: www.inrfvvp.org;
E-mail: inrfvvpe@athena.louisville.edu)]

Introduction

What I will say may surprise
both Muslims who "know" women's place and non-Muslims who "know" what Islam
means for women. It is this: I am a Muslim, a theologian, and a women's rights
activist, and while I am critical in a number of ways of the life that most
Muslim societies offer to women, twenty years of theological study, as well as
my own deepest faith, convince me that in real Islam, the Islam of the Qur'an,
women and men are equals. Liberating ideas lie at the heart of most enduring
faiths, and Islam shares in these. Two themes in particular strike me as being
of the highest importance. The first is the fundamental equality of humans
before God. The other is religion's revolutionary aim of human liberation. From
religion should come freedom to seek understanding of the will of God and life's
purpose, and freedom to honor God's creation through self-development and
striving toward God's ends.

Unfortunately, most Muslim
societies also mirror a fault that has been noted by feminist theologians in
cultures shaped by other religions: the gap between rhetoric of equality and the
reality of profound inequality between the lives of women and men. While Muslim
women continuously hear the refrain that Islam has given women more rights than
any other religious tradition, they continue to be subjected to grossly unequal
treatment.

Most Muslims -- women and men --
consider it self-evident that men are superior to women. Going further, they
justify many manifestations of inequality as inherent in Islam. In fact, women
are regarded in a number of contemporary Muslim societies as less than fully
human because it is widely believed that in some contexts (such as inheritance
or witnessing to contracts), one man is equal to two women. Most Muslim females,
learning their culture's assumptions even before they learn language, and denied
the opportunity to become educated, also internalize this belief.

The dominant, patriarchal
interpretations of Islam have fostered the myth of women's inferiority in
several ways. They have used sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad
(including disputed sayings) to undermine the intent and teachings of the
Qur'an, which Muslims regard as the Word of God. They have taken Qur'anic verses
out of context and read them literally, ignoring the fact that the Qur'an often
uses symbolic language to portray deep truths. And they have failed to account
for the overriding ethical values of the Qur'an, which stresses that human
beings -- women as well as men -- have been designated to be God's "khalifah"
(vicegerent) on earth and to establish a social order characterized by justice
and compassion.

A refutation of the whole mosaic
of arguments for women's lesser place would fill a book. It might require a
second book to explicate, proactively, the Qur'an's vision of women's equality
with men and what it might mean in day-to-day life. For now, my hope here is
simply to shake false certainties about women in Islam and stimulate additional
study for the sake of empowering Muslim women.

The central question is whether,
according to normative Islam, women and men are equal or unequal. It is clear to
me that, according to the perspective of the Qur'an, women and men are equal,
and that women are entitled to an equal opportunity along with men for the
actualization of their human potentialities. In fact, because of its protective
attitude toward all downtrodden and oppressed classes, the Qur'an is
particularly concerned about safeguarding the rights of women, and much Qur'anic
legislation is designed to ensure that women are treated with justice in the
home and in society.

Islam Seeks
Liberation

The Qur'an holds before us a
sublime vision of our human potential, our destiny, and our relationship with
God. Its vision of human destiny is apparent in the exalted proclamation:
"Towards God is thy limit" [Surah 53:An- Najm:42]. With this attitude, the
Qur'an seeks to liberate all persons so that we may realize our potential fully.
If all Muslims were to pursue the values of the Qur'an, they would create a
Paradise of justice and peace on earth.

The means and ends of human
liberation are foundational themes of the Qur'an: justice and the duty to strive
for it, compassion for all things, the need to strive continuously for the cause
of God ("jihad fi sabil Allah"). The most important form of "jihad" for
contemporary Muslims is "ijtihad," or the exercise of rational judgment to
understand the essential message of the Qur'an and to apply it to particular
circumstances. Central to this message is an ethic of responsibility for our
lives, for nature, and for the elimination of all inequities and injustices from
human society. According to the Qur'an, justice is a precondition for peace:
Without justice -- between men and women, as between classes and between nations
-- there can be no peace in the world.

Indeed, a large part of the
Qur'an's concern is to free human beings from the chains that bind them -- above
all, authoritarianism and the blind following of tradition. "Let there be no
compulsion in religion," says the Qur'an [Surah 2:Al-Baqarah:256]. God tells the
Prophet Muhammad, "We made thee not one to watch over [others'] doings, nor art
thou set over them to dispose of their affairs" [Surah 6:Al-An'am:107]. The
greatest guarantee of personal freedom lies in the Qur'anic decrees that no one
but God can limit human freedom [Surah 42:Ash-Shura:21] and that "Judgment is
Allah's alone" [Surah 12:Yusuf:40]. As the eminent jurist Khalid M. Ishaque
pointed out, "The Qur'an gives to responsible dissent the status of a
fundamental right."(1)

Our right to freedom includes
the freedom to tell the truth, as one sees it. Without this, other freedoms are
a charade and a just society is impossible. According to the Qur'an, truth is
one of God's most important attributes, and the Qur'an emphasizes that standing
up for the truth is a right and a responsibility that no Muslim may disclaim, no
matter how hard the truth may be to tell [Surah 4:An-Nisa':135]. Further, the
Qur'an forbids others to harm those who testify to the truth [Surah
2:Al-Baqarah:282].

The right to freedom of thought
and expression was exercised by Muslims in the early centuries of Islam and was
pivotal in the creation of an Islamic civilization characterized by outstanding
achievements in diverse fields of knowledge. The early Muslims celebrated
cultural diversity and engaged in rigorous intellectual discussion. Here, it is
apt to mention Wilfred Cantwell Smith's comment that, whereas the original
Muslims believed in God, modern Muslims believe in Islam.(2)

Centered in God and
self-critical, the original Muslims believed that although God had given them
the Qur'an and the Prophet had exemplified its teachings, it was their
responsibility to implement its message in the "Islamic" societies that they
were creating. These Muslims read the Qur'an as an "open," rather than a
"closed," text and strove continually to understand its deeper meaning. This
intellectual striving ("ijtihad") -- which Allama Muhammad Iqbal,
poet-philosopher of Pakistan, calls "the principle of movement" in history(3)
-- made the Muslims of the first three centuries dynamic and creative peoples
who paved the way for the European Renaissance.

It is a profound tragedy and
irony that today's Muslims, in large numbers, regard Islam in monolithic terms
and regard the "shari'ah" (the code regulating all aspects of a Muslim's life)
as fixed. In much of the contemporary Muslim world, we see the substitution of
traditionalism for the exercise of ijtihad -- even a denial of the right of
ijtihad.

To me, being a Muslim means
renewing the cry of the modernists, "Back to the Qur'an and forward with ijtihad."
In the same vein, it means acting on these words of Iqbal: "The teaching of the
Qur'an that life is a process of progressive creation necessitates that each
generation, guided but unhampered by the work of its predecessors, should be
permitted to solve its own problems."(4)
These are useful guidelines today for the liberation of all Muslims, especially
women, from traditional authoritarianism.

Human Rights in the
Qur'an

The Qur'an strongly guarantees
all fundamental human rights, without reserving them to men alone. These rights
are so deeply rooted in our humanness that their denial or violation is
tantamount to a negation or degradation of that which makes us human. These
rights came into existence with us, so that we might actualize our human
potential. These rights not only provide us with the opportunity to develop all
of our inner resources, but they also hold before us a vision of what God would
like us to be, what God deems to be worth striving for. The renunciation of a
God-given right would be no more virtuous than the refusal to utilize a
God-given talent.

The first and most basic right
emphasized by the Qur'an is the right to be regarded in a way that reflects the
sanctity and absolute value of each human life. Each person has the right not
only to life but also to respect, not by virtue of being a man or a woman, but
by virtue of being a human being. "Verily," states the Qur'an, "we have honored
every human being" [Surah 17:Al-Isra':70]. Human beings are deemed worthy of
esteem because, of all creation, they alone chose to accept the "trust" of
freedom of the will (Surah 33:Al-Ahzab:72). Human beings can exercise freedom of
the will because they possess the rational faculty, which is what distinguishes
them from all other creatures (Surah 2:Al-Baqarah:30-34). Although human beings
can become "the lowest of the low," the Qur'an declares that they have been made
"in the best of moulds" (Surah 95:At-Tin:4-6), having the ability to think, to
have knowledge of right and wrong, to do the good and to avoid the evil. Thus,
on account of the promise which is contained in being human, namely, the
potential to be God's vicegerent on earth, the humanness o fall human beings is
to be respected and considered an end in itself.

Flowing from this primary right
is the right to be treated with justice and equity. The Qur'an puts great
emphasis on the right to seek justice and the duty to do justice. Justice
encompasses both the concept that all are equal and recognition of the need to
help equalize those suffering from a deficiency or loss.

Yet justice is not absolute
equality of treatment, since human beings are not equal as far as their human
potential or their human situation is concerned. While each person's humanness
commands respect, the Qur'an also establishes the right to recognition of
individual merit. Merit depends not on gender or any other characteristic, but
only on righteousness. Righteousness consists of "just belief" plus "just
action," including faith, prayer, wealth- sharing, equitable and compassionate
behavior, and patience in the face of hardship or difficulty.

Of importance to women in the
Muslim world today is the Qur'anic idea that justice takes into account the
unequal conditions of different groups of people. This idea stems from the
Qur'anic ideal of community, or "ummah," a word deriving from the root "umm,"
meaning mother. Like a good mother with her children, the good community cares
about the well-being of all its members, offering particular support to the
downtrodden, oppressed, and "weak" classes. This includes women, slaves,
orphans, the poor and infirm, and minorities.

As discussed earlier, another
fundamental right is the right to be free of traditionalism and
authoritarianism. Instrumental here is the right to seek knowledge, which the
Qur'an emphasizes perhaps more than any other right. Acquiring knowledge is a
prerequisite for evaluating the conditions of life and working toward the
creation of a just world. Denied knowledge, Muslim women are denied justice.

Additionally, with great
implications for the status of Muslim women, human beings possess the right to
work, to earn, and to own property. This right is not the monopoly of men. In
Islam, everything belongs to God, not to any person, and so every human being
has the right to a means of living. Given the Qur'an's recognition of women as
persons in their own right and not as adjuncts to men, the right to earn a
living is of great importance to women, and the Qur'an entitles both women and
men to the fruits of their labors.

Human beings also have the right
to develop their aesthetic sensibilities and the right not only to survive but
to thrive, to enjoy "the good life." This requires self-actualization or
development, which is not possible without social justice. Not only an end in
themselves, women's rights are a basic component of social justice and a
fundamental aspect of creating a just society, in which all people can actualize
their God-given potential.

It is often said that rights
entail responsibility, meaning the responsibility not to use rights to justify
destructive behavior. Rights also entail another kind of responsibility: the
duty not to neglect them. Rights given to us by God ought to be exercised, since
everything that God does is for "a just purpose," as pointed out by a number of
Qur'anic verses.

In short, as beings in a
covenantal relationship with God, we must strive to secure and guard the rights
which God has given us and which, therefore, cannot be revoked by any temporal
authority.

Sexism Is Not Islam

Given the human rights
established by the Qur'an, how is it that Muslim women are among the most
voiceless and powerless "minorities" in the world? One answer is that women's
oppression -- including their "protection" -- in the name of Islam is based on
pre-Qur'anic, non-Qur'anic theological assumptions and on patriarchal impulses
camouflaged in the language of popular piety. It also consists of the simple
fear of change.

The belief that women are
inferior to men derives, in my judgment, from three fundamental theological
assumptions or ideas that have played pivotal roles not only in the Islamic, but
also in the Christian and Jewish, tradition. These three assumptions are:

1) God's primary creation is man
(Adam), since woman (Eve) is believed to have been created from man's rib and
is, therefore, ontologically derivative and secondary. This idea has been the
most damaging to women throughout history, for if it is believed that man and
woman were created unequal by God, then they cannot become equal essentially, at
a subsequent time.

2) Woman (Eve) was the primary
agent of "man's Fall," or man's expulsion from paradise. With enormous
implications for women's sexuality, this story undergirds the myth of feminine
evil. Consequently, women have been regarded as "the devil's gateway" -- a
phrase adopted from the early Christian Tertullian -- and treated with hatred,
suspicion, and contempt.

3) Woman was created not only
from man, but for man. Her existence, therefore, is instrumental and not of
fundamental importance.

Common though these assumptions
are, a correct reading of Qur'an does not support them. The idea that Eve was
created second, and is derivative -- which is found in the creation story in
Genesis 2 -- is not found in the Qur'an. In its thirty or so passages about
human creation, the Qur'an always speaks of the creation of humanity as a whole
("an-nas," "al-insan," "al-bashar"). The term "adam" (borrowed from Hebrew, in
which "adam" derives from "adamah," meaning "earth") occurs twenty-five times in
the Qur'an. In twenty-one instances, it refers not to a specific person but to
human beings when they reach the stage of moral autonomy and become capable of
being God's vicegerents on earth. In the Qur'an, "Adam" represents humanity, not
just a male person. It is important to note that there is no "Eve" in the
Qur'an.

According to the Qur'an, God
created woman and man simultaneously, of like substance, and in like manner.
Several verses state that God created man and women from a single life-cell or
being. Both man and women have male and female components [Surah
49:Al-Hujurat:13], and both together form the human species. It is a clear
teaching of the Qur'an that man and woman are equal in the sight of God, and the
Qur'an uses both feminine and masculine terms and imagery to describe the
creation of humanity from a single source.

As for the second assumption,
the Qur'an does not state that Eve tempted and deceived Adam, causing his "Fall"
and expulsion from paradise; as noted, Eve is not even mentioned by name in the
Qur'anic text. In Islam, the story of humanity's first act of disobedience is
not even the tale of a "Fall." Instead, as Iqbal writes, it shows "man's rise
from a primitive state of instinctive appetite to the conscious possession of a
free self, capable of doubt and disobedience."(5)
God approved of this development of human will and therefore forgave this first
transgression.

Finally, woman was not created
to serve the ends of man, nor vice versa: both were created to serve God's
purpose. Both are called upon equally to be righteous, and women and men are
"members" and "protectors" of each other.

In the face of this truth about
the Qur'an, how do Muslims rationalize the commonly held theological
misconceptions used to justify women's secondary status? The answer is, largely,
through the prevalent norms of Muslim culture, which has incorporated the many
sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that make up the Hadith literature, a
leading source of Islamic tradition. While the Qur'an has absolute authority as
God's Word and is therefore the primary source of Islam, the Hadith literature
has been the lens through which the Qur'an has been interpreted through the
ages. Reflecting the culture of the seventh- and eighth-century Arab world, the
sayings voice the cumulative biases, against women, of the Jewish, Christian,
Hellenistic, and pre-Islamic Bedouin Arab traditions.

To take one example, it is
through the Hadith literature that the idea of Eve's creation from Adam's rib
entered the Muslim world. Throughout Islamic history, certain "ahadith" (the
plural of "hadith," a saying) have been used by patriarchal Muslim culture to
undermine the aim of the Qur'an to liberate women from the status of chattels
and make them free and equal to men.

As important as the Hadith
literature is, controversy surrounds every aspect of it, from the authenticity
of individual sayings to the literature as a whole. In theory, all Muslim
scholars agree that they must reject any hadith that contradicts the Qur'an.
Nevertheless, the ahadith invoked to justify women's secondary status not only
are retained, but they enjoy overwhelming popularity among Muslims in general.

The belief of most Muslims that
the first woman was created from Adam's rib shows that, in practice, the Hadith
literature has displaced the teaching of the Qur'an on women's creation. It is
no wonder: throughout most of Muslim history, the sources of Islamic tradition
have been interpreted only by Muslim men who have arrogated to themselves the
task of defining the ontological, theological, sociological, and eschatological
status of Muslim women.

The challenge for contemporary
Muslim theologians who uphold gender equality and justice is to analyze and
refute time-honored understandings of certain Qur'anic verses and ahadith that
have been used against women. Their task is to reinterpret these texts in the
light of the cardinal Islamic belief that God is just and that God's word must
reflect God's justice. Indeed, the Qur'an is full of verses affirming the
equality of women and men. I defy patriarchy's theologians to reconcile these
verses with any bias against women or even relegation of women to a sheltered --
that is, inferior -- status. To wit(6):

Never will I suffer to be lost
The work of any of you,
Be he male or female:
Ye are members, one of another
[Surah 3:Al-'Imran:195]

If any do deeds
of righteousness, --
be they male or female --
And have faith,
They will enter Heaven,
And not the least injustice
Will be done to them.[Surah 4:An-Nisa':124]

The Believers, men
And women, are protectors,
One of another: they enjoin
What is just, and forbid
What is evil: they observe
Regular prayers, practice
Regular charity, and obey
God and His Apostle.
On them will God pour
His mercy: for God
Is Exalted in power, Wise.
God hath promised to Believers,
Men and women, Gardens
Under which rivers flow,
To swell therein,
And beautiful mansions
In Gardens of everlasting bliss.
But the greatest bliss
Is the Good Pleasure of God:
That is the supreme felicity.
[Surah 9:At-Tawbah:71-72]

Whoever works righteousness,
Man or woman, and has Faith,
Verily, to him will We give
A new Life, a life
That is good and pure, and We
Will bestow on such their reward
According to the best
Of their actions.[Surah 16:An-Nahl:97]

For Muslim men and women, --
For believing men and women,
For devout men and women,
For true men and women,
For men and women who are
Patient and constant, for men
And women who humble themselves,
For men and women who give
In Charity, for men and women
Who fast (and deny themselves),
For men and women who
Engage much in God's praise, --
For them has God prepared
Forgiveness and great reward.[Surah 23:Al-Mu'minum:35]

Men and women are created as
equal creatures of a universal, just, and merciful God whose pleasure is that
they live, in harmony and in righteousness, together.

Manifestations of
Inequality

Denying women the right to
interpret the Qur'an and the other sources of Islam, patriarchal authorities
have distorted the truth of Islam almost beyond recognition. They have made
Islam a means of keeping women in bondage, physically and spiritually. The most
gross violation of human rights in Muslim societies is that of the rights of
women, who are deprived of the freedom to be fully human.

Female children are
discriminated against from the moment of birth. Many girls are married when they
are still minors, although marriage in Islam is a contract and presupposes that
the contracting parties are both consenting adults. (The phenomenon of child
marriages gives special importance to the human right, recognized by the Qur'an,
to move freely and to emigrate from oppressive conditions.)

Ironically, while the Qur'an
often notes women's rights in marriage, the culture regards a husband as his
wife's gateway to heaven or hell. This is not only tragic, but also ironic, as
Islam rejects the idea of any intermediary between a believer and the Creator.

While Islam may have abolished
female infanticide, "honor killings" of women by their husbands remain common in
certain Muslim countries.

Although the Qur'an presents the
idea of "no-fault" divorce and speaks of divorce nonjudgmentally, Muslim
societies make divorce legally and socially hard on women. One means is the
denial to mothers of custody of their children.

Similarly disempowering to women
are pseudo-Islamic practices with regard to inheritance. The Qur'an allowed
women to inherit wealth and receive similar gifts, but Muslim societies have
discouraged gifts to women and favored the circulation of wealth among men.

Modernity has not brought
justice to most Muslim women. Since the 1970s, several countries have enacted
laws in the name of "Islamization" that reduce women's status, mathematically,
to less than full humanity. Such oppression of women serves to reinforce
cultural identity and express rejection of Western corruption. Controlling women
is a proxy for controlling sexuality, licentiousness, and the family structure
in which patriarchy is invested. Keeping women at home, subservient and
dependent, is both means and end.

More intensely than many other
societies, Muslim communities tend to divide the world into private (women's)
and public (men's) spheres. This structure segregates the sexes. Women must wear
veils to make themselves "faceless" in public because women's intrusion into
male space might disrupt, if not destroy, the fundamental order of things.

Segregation and enforced veiling
-- together, the tradition of the "curtain" -- exemplify both the twisting of
Qur'anic ideas and the adoption of pre-Islamic traditions oppressing women. For
instance, the purpose of the Qur'anic statements about women's dress and conduct
was to enable women to transact business in the public realm, free from sexual
harassment or molestation. Zealous and patriarchal Muslims, however, place form
over substance. In the name of protecting women's chastity (what about men's
chastity?) women are veiled and even confined to their homes -- at the expense
of their freedom and ability to engage in gainful work or other activity in the
public sphere. This grossly distorts the Qur'anic directive, in which
confinement was not the norm for chaste women, but the punishment for unchaste
ones.

The pre-Islamic roots of this
tradition also give the lie to the argument that secluding women is a Qur'anic
ideal. Veiling is part and parcel of discriminatory ideas about women rooted in
the Jewish and early Christian traditions. These words of St. Paul are an
example:

Christ is the source of every man, man is the source of
woman, and God is the source of Christ. For a man to pray or prophesy with his
head covered is a sign of disrespect to his source. For a woman, however, it is
a sign of disrespect to her source if she prays or prophesies unveiled; she
might as well have her hair cut off. If a woman is ashamed to have her hair cut
off or shaved, she ought to wear a veil. A man should certainly not cover his
head, since he is the image of God and reflects God's glory, but woman is the
reflection of man's glory. For man did not come from woman, and man was not
created for the sake of woman, but woman was created for the sake of man. [I
Corinthians 11:3-9]

Family Planning and
Abortion

Control of women centers largely
on control of women's bodies. Beliefs that identify women with the body, to the
exclusion of the mind and spirit, remain a common feature of many religious,
cultural, and philosophical traditions. Islam is no exception. Moreover, while
women are identified with the body, in these traditions they are not seen as
"owners" of their own bodies.

To control women's sexuality is
a means of controlling their bodies, and to control (or deny) family planning is
to govern women's sexuality. This is why the matter of who controls women's
bodies -- whether it is men, the church, the state or community, or women
themselves -- was a significant underlying issue of the United Nations
Conference on Population and Development in 1994, and why it will resurface at
the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.

Women in most Muslim societies
have minimal access to reliable means of contraception. This reflects the
influence of conservative Muslims who proclaim from public platforms and preach
from the pulpits of the mosques that family planning is against Islam. Like the
traditions of veiling and confinement, denial of family planning supports male
ownership and control of women, both directly and symbolically.

The Qur'an does not directly
address contemporary family planning issues -- a silence that in itself
indicates neither support nor opposition nor a lack of relevant principles.
Instead, the open text of the Qur'an establishes an ethical framework in which
it is appropriate to discuss family planning questions. (The Qur'an does include
both pronatal verses and verses directed toward population control. Of the
three, mutually contradictory ahadith concerning the withdrawal method of
contraception, two imply that it is acceptable.)

Given Islam's religious and
ethical framework, family planning itself should be seen as a fundamental human
right, especially for masses of disadvantaged Muslim women.

Among the principles supporting
women's access to family planning services are the equality of women with men,
the entitlement to respect for one's humanity, the right to justice and equity,
the right to be free of traditionalism and authoritarianism, the right to
privacy, the right to gain knowledge and use one's reason, the right to work and
earn and own property, the right to move freely, and the right to enjoy life.
Family planning helps women and men to secure and exercise these fundamental
human rights. The rights to respect and freedom from authoritarianism,
suspicion, and slander, in particular, also respond to the belief, still held by
some, that contraceptives make it possible for women to engage in licentious
behavior without penalty.

Several additional Qur'anic
principles support those who choose to use family planning. First, each
individual is responsible for his or her actions. Although the Qur'an calls God
the sustainer of all creation, it does not absolve individuals or communities of
responsibility for their survival and well-being. Rather, it reminds human
beings that we are responsible for our deeds -- indeed, for our souls [Surahs
74:Al-Muddaththir:38 and 52:At- Tur:21: "for itself lies every soul in pledge"].
Similarly, the Qur'an notes that reason is what elevates us above other
creatures, that righteous belief demands righteous action, and that God asks us
to change ourselves as a precondition of changing our conditions. All these
ideas support human responsibility where reproduction is concerned.

Finally, the Qur'an does not
make a requirement of marriage or childbearing. Nor does it follow pre-Islamic
traditions that sanctify sperm itself as the equal of human life. The quality,
or righteousness, of people is more important than their quantity.

A review of Muslim jurisprudence
shows that many jurists have considered abortion to be permissible within the
first 120 days of pregnancy for a number of reasons. Traditionally, scholars
have distinguished between the impermissible abortion of an ensouled fetus and
the permissible abortion of a fetus not yet ensouled. There are differences
among the authorities as to whether a compelling reason is required for abortion
and what constitutes a compelling reason.

Pursuing Justice

The Qur'an not only offers women
justice, but requires all Muslims to seek justice, including their own rights.
It is not enough merely to appreciate one's rights in theory. Muslims are called
upon, in oppressive conditions, to strive to make possible the exercise of the
rights given by God.

Male-centered and male-dominated
Muslim societies assert, glibly and tirelessly, that Islam has given women more
rights than any other religion. Meanwhile, they keep women in physical, mental,
and emotional confinement, depriving them of the opportunity to actualize their
human potential. A deeply symbolic and pragmatically devastating case in point
is that, while literacy rates are low in many Muslim countries, literacy rates
of Muslim women -- especially in the rural areas where most of the Muslim people
live -- are among the lowest in he world.

It is only because the masses of
Muslim women are steeped in poverty and illiteracy that oppressive ideas have
been accepted and tolerated for so long. Until recent times, the vast majority
of Muslim women have remained wholly or largely unaware of their "Islamic" (in
an ideal sense) rights. Even privileged, educated Muslim women -- like women of
other religious traditions -- have been denied systematically the opportunity to
acquire the critical tools for examining the roots of their tradition and
discovering how they became so disadvantaged. Their exclusion disables their
response.

The negative ideas about women
that prevail in Muslim societies are rooted in certain theological ideas. Until
we demolish the theological foundations of Muslim culture's misogynistic and
androcentric tendencies, Muslim women will suffer discrimination despite
statistical improvements in education, employment, and political rights. Islamic
tradition will remain rigidly patriarchal until we break the chains of ignorance
in which women are shackled.

Ultimately, it will be up to
Muslim women, once educated about Islam and their rights, to articulate in a
proactive fashion the meaning of their lives, their selves. Reacting against the
Western model of liberation no longer suffices. What is required is a positive
formulation of their own goals and objectives, individually and collectively.

Although prevailing conditions
seem to be far from desirable, I believe strongly that there is hope for the
future. There are indications that an increasing number of Muslims are, in fact,
returning to the Qur'an and attempting to apply its teachings to reform Muslim
practices. With the efforts of women and human rights activists who are striving
to actualize the liberating vision of the Qur'an -- and with the help of God --
more and more Muslim women will become educated and aware. As this happens, they
will reject the myths and arguments by which religious hierarchs imprison their
bodies, hearts, minds, and souls. Then they will grow into whole human beings,
free of guilt and fear, secure in the knowledge that they are equal to men in
the sight of God and that, therefore, they must not be unequal to men in any
human society.

1. K.M. Ishaque, "Islamic Law --
Its Ideals and Principles," in A. Gauher, ed., The Challenge of Islam (London:
The Islamic Council of Europe, 1980), p. 157.Back
to Text

2. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Islam
in Modern History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1957). Back to Text

3. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, The
Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (Lahore: Shaikh Muhammad Ashraf,
1962); the quotation here is from Lecture 6, "The Principle of Movement in the
Structure of Islam." Back to Text